Northern Michigan University
The university in Marquette, Michigan, offers a four-year degree programme in medicinal plant chemistry that prepares students to work in the business and science of cannabis. Courses focus on biochemistry, organic chemistry, biology, soils, liquid and gas chromatography, genetics, biostatics, accounting, financial management, and societal perspectives. Students won’t be growing marijuana but will learn to measure and extract medicinal compounds from plants such as St. John’s Wort and ginseng and transfer that knowledge to marijuana, said Brandon Canfield, a chemistry professor at the university.
The new four-year degree, which is the closest thing to a marijuana major at an accredited U.S. university, has drawn nearly 300 students from 48 states, Canfield said.
